Fans of gospel music must surely be thrilled by the teaming of Kirk Franklin, Marvin Sapp, Donnie McClurkin, and Israel Houghton as The King's Men. Concert mega-producer Live Nation packaged the singers for the 15-city Fall excursion. Though each of the men has a solid career and following of his own, the whole may well end up being far greater than the sum of its parts.

This will be the first collaborative effort between all four gospel greats who have, collectively, won more than 100 awards from Grammy Awards to Dove Awards. One Live Nation exec framed it as the gospel equivalent of “(Bruce) Springsteen, (Paul) McCartney, Prince, and Elton (John) hitting the road together.”

And together they shall hit that road. The King's Men start in Phoenix on September 16 at Comerica Theatre. The run continues on into California for two stops with The King's Men in Los Angeles and Concord before doubling back into Texas for two more shows.

The Southland provides an easy market for the gospel singers, so Kirk Franklin and company hit Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, and Norfolk on their way up the East Coast, as the nation's capitol welcomes The King's Men to Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Center on May 11. The last leg of the run covers Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, and Brooklyn.

Kirk Franklin

At the age of only 42, Franklin has made himself into something of a gospel legend by leading choirs such as The Family, One Nation Crew (1NC), and God's Property. Of course, he got his start when he was only 11 as music director for the adult choir at Mt. Rose Baptist Church. This came after his grandmother turned down an offer four years earlier.

Though he went through a few rebellious teen years, Franklin returned to the gospel fold and, by the time he was 20, was recruited by Martin Biggham to lead the choir at the 1990 Gospel Music Workshop of America Convention. Within a couple of years, Franklin had founded The Family and was well on his way to greatness.

Marvin Sapp

As founder and senior pastor of Lighthouse Full Life Center Church, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sapp would seem to have enough on his plate. However, he's also an active and incredibly successful gospel singer with nine solo albums to his credit in addition to three more as a member of the Commissioned.

With his solo efforts, Sapp has enjoyed watching his singles crossover from the gospel charts to the R&B/Hip Hop rankings and even the Billboard Hot 100. His 2010 album, Here I Am, made Sapp the highest-charting gospel artist in the 54 years that Billboard has tracked album sales

Donnie McClurkin

Another multiple award-winning singer and minister, McClurkin turned to the church when he was 8 years old and lost his little brother in a car accident. With ties to both Andrae Crouch and Marvin Winans, McClurkin was mentored well. As a teenager, the young talent formed the McClurkin Singers with the New York Restoration Choir coming along down the road.

He served as an assistant pastor to Winans for a long time before being ordained and tapped to lead the Perfecting Faith Church in Freeport, Long Island, as senior pastor. On the side, McClurkin has released three studio albums and two live ones.

Israel Houghton

Perhaps the wild card of the bunch, Houghton also enjoys a duel career on both the stage and the pulpit, but he infuses his Christian style with gospel, jazz, and rock flourishes. That may well explain why his performing ensemble is known as Israel & New Breed.

On top of the 11 albums he has released, Houghton also serves as a worship leader at Joel Osteen's famed Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.

Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Neil Young Included On Our List Of ‘10 Greatest Singer-Songwriters of All-Time’

Literally there are thousands of singer-songwriters.  If you write a song and you sing then technically you’re a singer-songwriter.  However, most music fans know that when a performer is labeled “singer-songwriter” he or she plays a certain kind of music—they have a certain kind of sound.  For example, James Taylor is the quintessential singer-songwriter but Elton John and Paul McCartney—two artists who write and sing—are not considered singer-songwriters.

Bottom line, when we use the term “singer-songwriter” what we really mean is someone who sings their own songs, plays an acoustic guitar, has roots in folk music or at least folk-rock, and if need be, can entertain a venue full of people all by themselves.

Below, Clickitticket looks at ten of the greatest singer-songwriters of all-time.  These are performers that defined the genre and inspired others to pick up a guitar and sing their own material.  Did we leave out a bunch of great artists?  Of course we did, but the ten listed below embody the spirit of what it is to be a singer-songwriter and they do so better than anyone else.

1. Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is best known for songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin’,” but what really separates Dylan from all the others is even after fifty years of making music he’s still releasing quality work.  Just check out his 2009 release, Together Through Life, to see what we mean.

2. Bruce Springsteen
We associate Bruce Springsteen with the E Street Band and huge stadium concerts but we sometimes forget that he’s really a singer-songwriter at heart.  If you don’t believe us, just check out the Boss’ 1982 release, Nebraska. 

3. James Taylor
James Taylor appeared on the cover of Time Magazine on March 1, 1971.  He was part of an article that chronicled the rise of the singer-songwriter.  The attention he received was well worth it as Taylor would go on to win five Grammy Awards and sell more than 35 million albums.

4. Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen is best known for his song “Hallelujah” but the member of both the Rock and Roll and the Canadian Music Halls of Fame has assembled a huge catalog of great songs in his nearly sixty year career: “Bird on the Wire,” “Suzanne,” and “Take This Waltz.”

In 2012, the singer-songwriter embarks on a 21-date tour of North America.  The outing begins Oct. 31 with Leonard Cohen in Austin, Texas and ends Dec. 20 in Brooklyn, New York.  Leonard Cohen tickets will be collected in major cities like San Jose, Calgary, and Detroit. 

Highlights of his tour, which could be his last, are a Leonard Cohen concert in Los Angeles on Nov. 5, a Leonard Cohen performance in Toronto on Dec. 4, a Leonard Cohen gig in Boston on Dec. 15, and a Leonard Cohen show in New York City on Dec. 18.

5. Neil Young
Neil Young actually started out as that quintessential singer-songwriter sitting on a stool and baring his soul in Canada in the early 1960s.  Then he moved to California and became well known for stints in Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.  Of course, Young is at his best when it’s just him, an acoustic guitar, and a captive audience.

6. Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne has delighted fans for years with tracks like “Running on Empty,” “Lawyers in Love,” and “Somebody’s Baby.”  Rising to fame in the mid-1970s, Browne has sold more than 17 million albums during his amazing career that ensconced him as one of America’s preeminent singer-songwriters.

7. Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Lightfoot is the third Canadian on our list (the others being Leonard Cohen and Neil Young) but the only one regarded as Canada’s greatest songwriter.  One of the artists that defined folk-rock in the 1960s and 1970s, Lightfoot is best known for his hits “If You Could Read My Mind,” “You Are What I Am,” and “Sundown.”

8. Harry Chapin
If our list was about music’s greatest humanitarians, Harry Chapin would rank much higher.  Had he not died at the tender age of 38, Chapin might have cracked the top five.  As it is, this singer-songwriter from Brooklyn, New York, who’s best known for his classic song “Cat’s in the Cradle,” comes in at a respectable number eight.

9. Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Cockburn is yet another Canadian and political activist on our list.  He broke onto the Canadian music scene as a solo artist in 1967 and then introduced himself to American audiences in 1979 thanks to the single “Wondering Where the Lions Are” and an appearance on Saturday Night Live.

10. Ryan Adams
Ryan Adams is the youngest performer on our list.  In another decade, this North Carolinian may find himself much higher.  With songs like “New York, New York,”  “When The Stars Go Blue,” and “Nuclear,” Adams has proved that he has the songwriting abilities and the passion to carry on the tradition of great singer-songwriters that’s been established by the nine other artists on our list.

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Thanks to Ellen DeGeneres, two little girls in pink tutus have taken the world by storm. Sophia Grace and Rosie caught Ellen's attention some months back through a YouTube video. Ever since there first high-energy appearance on her show, Ellen hasn't been able to get enough of the little darlings. She has since put them on the red carpet at various events and introduced them to a number of their favorite pop music stars.

At the top of their list is Nicki Minaj. Their performance of Nicki's “Super Bass” was featured in that original viral video, so Ellen, on their first visit to her show, surprised the girls with the chance to duet with Minaj on the tune. Nearly 40 million people have now watched the collaboration.

Whether or not Minaj is an appropriate role model for girls 8 and under is up for debate – as is whether or not her songs are appropriate listening material for the same demographic. After all, one of the verses from “Super Bass” is: “He a muthafuckin trip, trip, sailor of the ship, ship. When he make it drip, drip kiss him on the lip, lip. That's the kind of dude I was lookin' for. And yes you'll get slapped if you're lookin', ho.”

Still, Minaj has been very generous with the girls, giving them advice like stay in school and don't ever let anyone tell them not to wear pink. She also gifted them with a shopping spree at Target and, just last week, gave them tickets to her May 12 performance at KIIS-FM's Wango Tango in Los Angeles. If the cute competition wouldn't cramp her style too much, no doubt Minaj would bring Sophia Grace and Rosie along on the rest of her Pink Friday Tour.

This will be Nicki's first-ever solo headlining trek in North America and she'll steel her nerves by hitting a few more radio-sponsored events prior to getting underway. The actual 14-stop tour starts up on July 16 with Minaj in Chicago at the Chicago Theatre, and hits only major cities. Philadelphia, Boston, and New York are covered by the radio gigs. So, following Chicago, Minaj rocks Detroit, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Miami.

After that, she bounces around the South a bit with shows in Birmingham, Houston, Dallas, and St. Louis where Minaj plays the Peabody Opera House on July 31.

August brings a westward direction to the routing with the first stop landing Minaj in Denver on August 2 at the Wells Fargo Theatre. Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Seattle follow before Minaj wraps in Vancouver on August 12 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Before and after the North American dates, Nicki heads to Europe. In June and early July, she'll play Stockholm, Sweden; Oslo, Norway; Frederiksberg, Denmark; Brussels, Belgium; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Paris, France; Milano, Italy; London, United Kingdom; Birmingham, United Kingdom; Manchester, United Kingdom; and Kinross, Scotland. Two more UK festival performances follow in mid-August.

Seeing as Sophia Grace and Rosie hail from Harlow, Essex (just northeast of London), perhaps Minaj will invite them to join her in front of the hometown crowd.

Il Divo: Ten Things You Need To Know About One Of The World’s Most Popular Singing Groups

Il Divo is one of the world’s most popular and successful singing groups.  Currently, the quartet is selling tens of thousands of Il Divo concert tickets to their massive 2012 world tour.  The outing is in support of their sixth studio Album, Wicked Game, and will take Carlos, David, Sébastien, and Urs to six continents. 

In honor of this international phenomenon, Clickitticket has compiled a list of the ten things you need to know about the seminal pop opera group.  Actually, there’s an eleven, but the eleventh is so obvious it’s not even worth mentioning.  It is of course that Il Divo sings some of the industry’s most beautiful music. 

Carlos Marin is a movie star
Okay, he’s not the Spanish George Clooney but Carlos Marin has appeared in two big Hollywood movies.  He sang in Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and was the Prince’s singing voice in the Spanish version of Cinderella. 

David Miller performed at the White House
On May 6, 1998, American David Miller, as a member of the Washington National Opera, performed at the White House for an audience that included President Bill Clinton.  That’s quite an accomplishment considering Miller had only made his debut with the company the year before.

Highlight of Il Divo’s upcoming trek is…
The highlight of Il Divo’s North American leg is their three-night stand in New York City.  On May 29, 30, and 31, Il Divo is scheduled to perform at the historic Beacon Theatre.  Other highly anticipated dates on their calendar include two Il Divo concerts in Boston (June 2 and 3); Il Divo singing in Austin, Texas at the Bass Concert Hall (June 19); and Il Divo performing at the Akoo Theatre in Rosemont, Illinois (Aug. 3 and 4).

Il Divo has sold more than 25 million albums
Since their self-titled debut dropped in 2004, Il Divo has sold more than 25 million albums worldwide.  While all five of the band’s non-Christmas albums have cracked the top ten on the Billboard 200, their debut is still their bestselling release.

Il Divo has released six concert DVDs
Ideally, you want to see Il Divo live—for example when they play Atlantic City on Aug. 10.  If you can’t make it to a live show you can always watch one of their six concert DVDs.  We recommend Live at the Greek Theater—it’s concert footage taken in 2006 of Il Divo performing at the historic Los Angeles venue.

Il Divo sings in several languages
The group is truly multinational.  They are comprised of four men from four different countries.  Il Divo performs all over the world, from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut to the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.  And they sing in four languages: English, French, Italian, and Spanish.

Il Divo’s playlist contains familiar songs
Don’t be scared by the fact that Il Divo belongs to the genre of “pop opera.”  While they sing some of the world’s greatest arias they also perform well-known standards like “You Raise Me Up,” “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina,”  “My Way,” “Unchained Melody,” “Somewhere,” and Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.”

Urs Bühler was part of a “conspiracy”
Long before the Swiss tenor joined Il Divo, he was the lead singer of a heavy metal band called “Conspiracy.”  It’s hard to believe that Bühler—who sang at the prestigious Salzburg Festival—was once a head banger.

Sébastien Izambard was a French pop star
Sébastien Izambard first solo album, Libre (2000), went to the top of the pop charts in his native France.  The music of his solo career was greatly influenced by the great Jeff Buckley.  Suffice to say he’s had more success as a member of Il Divo than he had as a solo artist. 

Simon Cowell created Il Divo
Former American Idol judge Simon Cowell came up with the idea of Il Divo—which means “divine male performer” in Italian—after hearing an Andrea Bocelli song on The Sopranos.  To find his four guys, Cowell conducted a worldwide search that took nearly two years.  The last member of the group chosen was David Miller.

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